Texas A&M Essay Prompts 2024 [Supplemental Essays With Examples]

Published November 25, 2023 · · Updated August 24, 2024 · 9 minutes · by Kamerpower ·

Texas A&M Essay Prompts 2024 [Supplemental Essays With Examples]. To complete Texas A&M’s supplemental essay requirements, applicants must respond to an essay prompt and at least two short answer questions. Texas A&M University has three required essay prompts on its application. You are asked to write about your personal story, a life event that has prepared you for success in college, and a person who has profoundly impacted your life. 

There is also an optional essay prompt about any additional challenges or opportunities you have had to overcome. There is another prompt specifically for College of Engineering applicants. Only students applying to the College of Engineering need to answer both Texas A&M essay prompts.

Texas A&M Short Answer Application Essay Prompts

When Texas A&M introduced short answer questions to their application in 2020, many students felt panicked. Applications are already writing-intensive, so the thought of even more required writing was an overwhelming prospect. These short answer questions are intended to benefit students by giving them more opportunities to show why they should be an Aggie.

What are the essay prompts for Texas A&M? With Supplemental Essay

Prompt 1:

Tell us your story. What unique opportunities or challenges have you experienced throughout your high school career that have shaped who you are today? (750 words)

Prompt 2:

Describe a life event which you feel has prepared you to be successful in college. (250 words)

Prompt 3:

Tell us about the person who has most impacted your life and why. (250 words).

Prompt 4 (Optional):

If there are additional personal challenges, hardships, or opportunities (including COVID related experiences) that have shaped or impacted your abilities or academic credentials, which you have not already written about, please note them in the space below. (250 words).

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College of Engineering Applicants Prompt:

Describe your academic and career goals in the broad field of engineering (including computer science, industrial distribution, and engineering technology). What and/or who has influenced you either inside or outside the classroom that contributed to these goals? It is important to spend time addressing this question as it will be considered as part of engineering review process. (500 words)

REQUIRED Apply Texas and Common App Essay:

“Tell us your story. What unique opportunities or challenges have you experienced throughout your high school career that have shaped who you are today?”

Essay Tips for Texas A&M Essay Prompts 24-25

#1. Be authentic.

Your writing style should match your personality. If you’re an outgoing, spunky person, your essay shouldn’t be stiff and super formal. At the same time, remember your audience and avoid using terminology that only teenagers would understand. Make sure your writing is natural (no thesaurus necessary).

#2. Answer the question.

Your essay shouldn’t be a complete autobiography. Instead, it should use a specific instance to answer the question and reveal more about your unique personality. Be sure your essay doesn’t repeat things listed elsewhere on the application. Do more than recount the experience, explain how it changed or impacted you.

#3. Be detailed.

Essay topics are generally broad, but your response should be specific. For example, COVID-19 is a challenge that has affected everyone in a different way. By focusing on details, you set yourself apart. Everyone is living through the pandemic, but your experience is unique to you. Your essay should highlight that uniqueness and how you’ll be an asset to the university.

#4. Proofread your essay.

Check your essay for grammatical errors. Run a spellcheck and then proofread it again. Ask a teacher or counselor to read your essay as well.

What are Texas A&M Essay Prompts Tips?

Texas A&M Essay University Supplemental Prompt #1

End with a clear “So what?” Explain how the opportunities or challenges have changed you and made you a better person. This should be more than just an enumeration of experiences, but rather an exploration of why and how the event truly made a difference in your life.

Texas A&M Essay University Supplemental Prompt #2

While you must describe the person and event, that’s not really the admission officers’ focus. Be sure to spend a good chunk of your word count focusing on HOW this has prepared you and WHY it matters. How have you changed because of this person/event? What have they taught you about yourself or the world? How is your perspective different because of them?

Texas A&M Essay University Optional Prompt 

Don’t fill this section out if you feel it doesn’t apply to you: This section is optional (really!). So don’t feel like you have  to write something just because there’s space there. You want to add value to your application, not empty words. That said, if there are additional challenges, hardships, or opportunities that have shaped you, take advantage of this section.

Texas A&M College of Engineering Applicants Essay Prompt Tips

You can largely treat this as a Why Major essay. Imagine a mini-movie of the moments that led you to your interest, and create a simple, bullet point outline. Can you find (and describe) the unique influences that set you apart from other aspiring engineering students? For example, who are the people in your life that inspired you to pursue engineering? What unique experiences have you had with technology (e.g., robotics or programming)? And what aspects of engineering stand out most to you?

General Tips For Responding To Texas A&M Essay Prompts

Tell us about the person who has most impacted your life and why. (250 words)

Who is the first person to come to mind when you read this prompt? The person you write about can be someone in your immediate circle, larger network, or on the world stage. Remember that the person you choose is going to say a lot about what you value and respect in others. Maybe an adult in your life has served as a mentor and role model for you, or perhaps the person who has impacted you most is a close friend and confidant. Once you identify the person you’d like to write about, be sure to summarize who they are to you, how they have impacted your life, and how you’ve changed as a result of knowing them.

Describe a life event which you feel has prepared you to be successful in college. (250 words)

This prompt is incredibly vague, which is kinda awesome because it sets you up to talk about almost anything you want. Which life event has sparked personal growth? What do you think it takes to be successful and how do you embody those qualities? Maybe a parent’s fragile health situation challenged you to take on more responsibilities than the average teenager, preparing you for the hard work ahead. Or perhaps you learned to love your football team’s playback sessions, as they forced you to routinely examine your mistakes, welcome constructive criticism, and guide you toward self-improvement. Whatever story you choose to tell, be sure to infuse it with personal details that no one else could include in their essay.

REQUIRED Short Answer Prompt

Texas A&M University believes that diversity is an important part of academic excellence and that it is essential to living our core values (loyalty, integrity, excellence, leadership, respect, and selfless service). Describe the benefits of diversity and inclusion for you personally and for the Texas A&M campus community. 

Diversity is a broad term, so before students start writing, they should think about all of its implications. Diversity can include race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religious and cultural beliefs, socioeconomic background, immigration status, physical disabilities, and neurological differences, among many other aspects of identity.

Students should also consider the other key term in this question: inclusion. Diversity is one thing, but any environment needs to be inclusive (accepting and encouraging of diversity) in order to allow all different kinds of people to thrive within a community.

Once they’ve taken a step back, it’s time to focus on the two parts of the prompt: 

Part 1: Describe the benefits of diversity and inclusion for you personally

Part 2: and for the Texas A&M campus community.

First, they’ll need to zoom in to their personal experiences: What kinds of diverse communities have they been a part of? How have those communities helped them? How did they personally grow from their experiences within those communities? They can keep those values that A&M describes (loyalty, integrity, excellence, leadership, respect, and selfless service) top of mind while they brainstorm.

Next, students need to think about why it’s important for a college community to be both diverse and inclusive. As a thought experiment, students can imagine themselves in an environment with people with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs. In what ways will that make their college experience richer—both inside and outside the classroom?

As students write, they should cite personal examples from their own lives. They only have 250-300 words, but that should be enough for a quick anecdote. And if a student doesn’t come from a diverse background, they can use this space to talk about why it’s important for them to be part of a diverse culture on campus and how it will help them grow. Students may also want to consult A&M’s own statement on the diversity page of their website.

Prompt 4 (Optional)

If there are additional personal challenges, hardships, or opportunities (including COVID related experiences) that have shaped or impacted your abilities or academic credentials, which you have not already written about, please note them in the space below. (250 words). 

This prompt is optional, and while we typically recommend that you respond to optional prompts, this one is asking about additional info not reflected in your application—so you should only write a response if you truly have something to add. The specification of “COVID related experiences” also allows you to discuss any particular issues you faced due to the pandemic. Since everyone has been going through the pandemic, we only recommend discussing COVID if you had a particularly disruptive experience.

Finally, don’t forget that this prompt also allows you to elaborate on any positive opportunities that shaped your high school career. If you have a unique extracurricular that you haven’t written about yet (beyond the Common App Activities section), you can write about it here. You could also talk about your experience at a leadership program or a mentor you had.

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